Sox lose to Texas after getting to Darvish

Published: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 5:30 a.m. CST

Caption

(Matt Strasen)

Chicago White Sox's Alex Rios (51) is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring a run in the first inning during a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Tuesday, April 30, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Matt Strasen)

By STEPHEN HAWKINS – The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The White Sox had already scored twice only six batters into the game against Yu Darvish, the Texas ace who had thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings.

Late lineup addition Dewayne Wise had four hits, including a tying two-run homer in the sixth after a fielding miscue by Darvish extended the frame.

And Darvish still got his fifth April victory because the Rangers had a tiebreaking six-run inning immediately following his last pitch in a 10-6 win Tuesday night.

"That's one of those, when you get runs like that, especially early, and then you tie it up, it's one of those, you feel good things, something good is going to happen, but they swung the bat," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "You know they're a good lineup and you know they swing the bat, and we gave them a few extra opportunities and those are the ones that always bite you. You do that to his lineup enough times and they're going to make you pay."

Darvish (5-1) became the first Texas pitcher in 15 years to win five times in April, overcoming a shaky start with the help of some big hits — and that big inning.

The Sox, whose .229 batting average coming into the game was tied for the worst in the AL, had four hits in the first inning, including RBI singles by Alex Rios and Paul Konerko. Darvish had allowed three hits in each of his three previous starts.

The Sox then got even at 4 with two outs in the sixth when Wise hit the first homer off Darvish this season. That came a batter after Darvish failed to get his foot down on first base to complete what would have been an inning-ending double play.

"We had a couple of opportunities to put some more runs on the board and we didn't," Wise said."I think Yu pitched a great game. He maybe missed a spot on a couple of pitches, but for the most part, I felt like we were in it until the sixth inning and I don't know what happened after that."

Wise was in an 0-for-15 slide and wasn't even in the original starting lineup. But he batted ninth when Jordan Danks was a late scratch because of inflammation behind his right knee.

"Maybe (Wise's) mind was off it. I don't know, but it was a good night," Ventura said.

Adam Dunn also homered for the Sox.

Mitch Moreland, who had three hits, delivered a go-ahead double in the sixth and Adrian Beltre capped the burst with a two-run homer. The bases were loaded when Beltre got to the plate before runs scored on two wild pitches by Nate Jones, the third reliever in the inning.

The Rangers were coming off consecutive losses for the first time this season, and were shut out in Minnesota in their last game Sunday.

Nelson Cruz and Jeff Baker homered on consecutive pitches in the fourth off White Sox starter Jose Quintana. Texas scored twice more in the fifth when Ian Kinsler had his fifth double in five games, driving in a run before he scored on a single by Elvis Andrus.

Geovany Soto drew a one-out walk in the sixth off reliever Matt Lindstrom (1-2). Moreland's double made it 5-4, and he scored on a single by Kinsler.

In the top of the sixth, Moreland fielded Hector Gimenez's grounder to first and threw to second. Darvish took shortstop Elvis Andrus' relay throw and caught the ball in time for the out, but he wasn't on the base and unsuccessfully reached back to try to touch it with his foot.

Darvish immediately patted his chest with his hand, acknowledging his mistake, and even smiled. A few seconds later, he hung a slow breaking pitch over the center of the plate to Wise. Darvish then struck out Alejandro De Aza to end the inning.

"If I had touched the bag that would have ended the inning and I wouldn't have given up the home run," Darvish said through his translator. "But I think the home run fired up our team, and we scored a lot of runs after that, so I think it turned out to be a good one."

NOTES: The last Texas pitchers to win five games in April were Aaron Sele and Rick Helling in 1998. Darvish leads the majors with 58 strikeouts in 38 2-3 innings and nine more in his six innings. ... Quintana allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings. ... Moreland is hitting .429 (15 for 35) his last nine games.